Greek Tragedy
A Summary of the Oedipus Trilogy
by Sophocles
One day, a king and queen of a powerful Greek city-state visit the oracle of Delphi to hear prophecies about
their city. What they hear, however, is rather disturbing. The oracle tells the king and queen that their baby
son will one day kill his father. Upset by this terrible news, the royal couple tries to prevent this tragic destiny.
The king pierces his son’s feet and gives him to a shepherd with instructions to leave the baby in the
mountains to die. But pitying the child, the shepherd gives him to a herdsman, who takes the baby far away to
the city of Corinth. There, the herdsman presents the child to his own king and queen, Polybus and Merope of
Corinth, because they are childless. Without knowing the baby’s true identity, King Polybus and Queen
Merope of Corinth adopt the child and name him Oedipus (“swollen-foot”).
Oedipus grows up as a prince in Corinth, but hears troubling stories that his father, King Polybus of Corinth, is
not his real father. When Oedipus travels to Delphi to consult the oracle about this, Oedipus hears a prophecy
that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he determines to avoid his terrible destiny by never
returning home to Corinth. Instead, he decides to go to the far-away city of Thebes, where there will be no
danger of fulfilling the prophecy.
Outside Thebes, Oedipus discovers that the monstrous Sphinx has been terrorizing the countryside. Oedipus
also learns that King Laius (LAY-us) of Thebes had recently been killed, apparently by a band of robbers.
Leaderless and afraid of the Sphinx, the people call out for help.
Oedipus volunteers to try to defeat the mighty Sphinx.
The Sphinx challenges Oedipus with a riddle: “What goes on four feet
at dawn, two feet at noon, and three feet at evening?” Oedipus thinks
for a while and eventually responds with the right answer, “A man”. A
baby crawls on all-fours, a child and adult each walk on two legs, and
an old person uses a cane (three legs). Answering the riddle correctly,
Oedipus is able to kill the Sphinx, saving the people of Thebes.
The Theban people proclaim him a hero; and because their king, King
Laius, has been killed, they offer the crown to Oedipus as their new
king. As was the usual custom, Oedipus marries the widowed queen
of Thebes, Queen Jocasta (joe-COST-ah), and they have four
children.
Years later, a plague descends upon the city of Thebes. The citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to
find a way to lift the plague that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus decides to send his brother-in-law,
Creon (CREE-on), to the oracle to learn what to do.
On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs them to find the murderer of King Laius, the king who
ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once,
Oedipus sets out to solve the murder to once again save the people of Thebes.
King Oedipus summons a blind prophet named Tiresias (ty-REE-see-us) and asks Tiresias if he can use his
skills of prophecy to identify the man who murdered King Laius. At first, the prophet refuses to speak.
Oedipus, who senses that Tiresias knows more than he wants to admit, threatens to punish the prophet unless
he tells Oedipus what he knows. Finally, the prophet Tiresias points his finger at Oedipus and cries out, “It is
you! You are the murderer!” Oedipus mocks and rejects the prophet angrily, ordering him to leave. How,
Oedipus thought, could he have been the murderer of King Laius?
Before Tiresias leaves, he hints that the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta is “unnatural”. The prophet also
foretells a future for Oedipus of blindness, infamy, and wandering.
Oedipus attempts to gain advice from his wife Jocasta, the queen. She encourages him to ignore the
prophecies, explaining that a prophet once told her that Laius, her former husband, would die at the hands of
their son. According to Jocasta, the prophecy did not come true because her son was dead. She and her
former husband Laius had abandoned their baby so the prophecy could never come true. Furthermore, Laius
himself was killed by a band of robbers at a crossroads outside the city. Therefore, Oedipus should relax.
Oedipus becomes distressed by Jacosta’s remarks because just before he came to Thebes, he killed an old
man with servants at a crossroads. Before answering the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus encountered an old
man in a chariot with several servants at a crossroads. Oedipus accidentally got in the way of the chariot and
the old man insulted and hit Oedipus. Oedipus become very angry at the old man’s insult and killed the man
and the servants who fought to protect him. Was the old man at the crossroads King Laius?
Oedipus, who is now becoming quite concerned, is determined to learn the truth. Remember that, as a young
man, Oedipus learned from an oracle that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Fear of the
prophecy drove him from his home in Corinth and brought him to Thebes. Again, Queen Jocasta advises him
not to worry about the prophecies.
Oedipus finds out from a messenger that Polybus, king of Corinth, the father who raised Oedipus, has died of
old age. Jocasta rejoices—surely this is proof that the prophecy Oedipus heard from the oracle is worthless.
Oedipus cannot kill his father if he’s already dead. Jocasta also attempts to calm Oedipus’ fears of fulfilling the
other part of the prophecy, marrying his mother. Marrying Queen Merope of Corinth would be impossible since
Corinth is so far away from Thebes.
Unfortunately for Oedipus, Jocasta’s reassurance is short lived. A messenger tells Oedipus that he heard from
people in Corinth that Polybus and Merope were not Oedipus’ real parents. Oedipus had earlier heard rumors
that Polybus was not his real father, but Oedipus had always dismissed those rumors. The messenger tells
Oedipus that many years ago, a shepherd was given a baby by a mother and father from Thebes. The
shepherd then gave the abandoned baby to the messenger so that a suitable home could be found. The
messenger gave the baby to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth so that the baby would have a
prosperous life.
Now Oedipus is really confused. If Polybus and Merope were not his real parents, then who could his parents
be? Who were the parents from Thebes who abandoned the baby that the shepherd found? Oedipus
becomes determined to track down the shepherd and learn the truth of his birth. Jocasta, who is now
beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together, becomes terrified. She does not want to know any more
details of Oedipus’ birth. Jocasta begs him to stop, and then runs off to the palace, wild with grief.
Confident that the worst he could hear is that his true parents were peasants, not royalty, Oedipus eagerly
awaits the shepherd. At first the shepherd refuses to speak, but King Oedipus threatens the shepherd with
death if he doesn’t tell Oedipus what he knows. Finally, the shepherd tells Oedipus what he knows—Oedipus
was the abandoned baby he found. Oedipus is actually the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes.
Realizing that he had killed his father Laius at the crossroads and married his
mother Jocasta, Oedipus is consumed by grief. He rushes into the palace and
finds that his wife (and mother), Queen Jocasta, had killed herself. Tortured and
frenzied, Oedipus takes the pins from her gown and gouges out his own eyes, so
that he can no longer look upon the misery he has caused.
Now blinded and disgraced, Oedipus begs his brother-in-law Creon to kill him.
Instead, Oedipus quietly submits to Creon’s leadership, and spends the rest of
his days as a blind, depressed, disgraced man.